Building Baby's First Library: Picture Books for Babies

It is never to early to begin building your child’s home library. Come discover some of our favorite picture books for babies.

When I was pregnant with my kids, I read to my belly. When they were born, I read to them from the start. I shared many of my childhood favorites with them and discovered many new ones.

As soon as I learned that I had a grandbaby on the way, I began shopping for my favorite picture books for babies. But, I also kept my eyes open for new books we could discover together.

I recently discovered that Candlewick Press has an amazing collection of kids’ books, and I had so much fun picking out some great new books to discover with Lane.

Picture Books for Babies

While I strongly believe in reading to babies, there are a few things you’ll want to consider as you begin to build your baby’s first library. You’ll want to consider the durability of the books, managing their accessibility, and of course, the engagement factor.

Durable Books for Infants

Durability is key when you’re introducing young children to books. In the infant stage, it’s not as important since newborns aren’t grabbing for the book you are reading to them. However, as baby gets a little bigger and starts reaching for books, you’ll want to choose board books or even cloth books for them to grab, hold, and, yes, even gnaw on at times.

Cloth books are great, because they’re so durable. Baby’s First Cloth Book: Park combines bright pictures with crinkly pages that will engage babies. I love that it has a velcro strap so I can attach the book to Lane’s stroller when he can sit up. That will allow him to handle the book without having to worry that he’ll drop it without me noticing.

Board books are a top choice for baby’s library, as well. The thick pages are easy for babies and toddlers to turn. They’re typically small in size, as well, making them easy for little hands to hold on to. Always blends board book pages with bright, bold illustrations and rhyming text to present a story that expresses the love a parent has for his/her child. I would bet this will become a favorite bedtime story when Lane visits Mimi’s house.

Keeping Infant Books Accessible

Another key to building baby’s library is to keep books accessible for babies and toddlers. In the beginning, I keep books in baskets beside the rocking chair and on the table beside the couch where I sit and rock baby. It’s easy to switch the books out as you read through them and as you purchase new ones or pick them up at the library.

Once baby starts crawling, I like to store books in baskets or buckets on the floor. Keeping the baskets on the floor makes puts them at a crawling baby’s eye level. At this stage, I make sure all of the books are sturdy board books like Guess How Much I Love You. This story is a classic, and its small sturdy pages make it the perfect addition to baby’s first library.

Engaging Books for Infants and Toddlers

I love books that introduce kids to basic concepts such as colors, numbers, and the alphabet. Walk and See: ABC does just that. the illustrations teach little listeners all about nature with items that represent every letter of the alphabet.

Books with moving parts, pages to touch and feel, and pictures that pop up when the page is turned are engaging for little ones. Things That Go! introduces little ones to different modes of transportation with kid-friendly pop-up pages.

I Thought I Saw a Dinosaur! is a silly slide-and-seek book that encourages little ones to move theslider to reveal the dinosaur hiding on each page. Older infants and toddlers can build motor skills as they interact with this fun book.

Lift-the-flap books encourage little ones to interact with the books they’re looking at and listening to. Stomp! Stomp! is bright and colorful and full of dinosaurs big and small hiding behind big flaps. Kids will want to lift the flaps and mimic the dinosaurs on each two-page spread.

I love snuggling up with Lane and reading to him. And, I’m excited for the day that he begins grabbing for the books himself, because he’s excited to read with Mimi. Until then, I’ll continue to peruse the Candlewick Press catalog in search of more top books for babies.

If you’re in the market for some new picture books for your baby, you can save 20% when using the code CANDLEWICK on your next order from the Candlewick Press site!